Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Numbers: Explorations in Text and Meaning - Hardcover

Nataf, Rabbi Francis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9655241548 ISBN 13: 9789655241549

Publisher: Urim Publications, 2014

Synopsis

Continuing Rabbi Francis Nataf’s innovative analysis of the Bible’s five books, this volume focuses on some of the text’s most perplexing stories in the Book of Numbers. It weaves them into discussions about the individual and the community, religious leadership and its abuse, and about communication and disappointment. Taking a new look at Judaism’s most basic text, Rabbi Nataf reads the Bible in ways that make it more accessible and more exciting to study. The clarity of the insights in Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Numbers reveals new patterns in the biblical text.

About this title

About the Author

Rabbi Francis Nataf is a Jerusalem-based thinker, writer, and educator. He is the author of the Redeeming Relevance in Torah series and of many articles on comparative religious thought, biblical studies, and education.

Review

“Rabbi Francis Nataf . . . pursues Jewish spiritual renewal with moral and intellectual honesty. Seeking solutions to difficult problems, there is no doubting his impact in the years ahead.”  —Professor Yehuda Gellman, department of philosophy, Ben-Gurion University

“The purpose of this excellent volume is stated clearly by the author in his introduction: 'to return to the profound originality characteristic of Jewish tradition.' In this, Rabbi Nataf has eminently succeeded, he is a bearer of the tradition and is yet original. He brings to his analysis of six critical passages a creativity born of deep respect for the Biblical text . . . as well as an acute awareness of perplexing moral dilemmas. Happily, he is thus relevant even as his insights are redemptive. This is a book well worth reading—and studying.”  —Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, chancellor, Yeshiva University

“Rabbi Francis Nataf is a leading educator who in all his writings has helped us deepen our engagement with the Divine text and the attempt to uncover and appreciate its message and meaning for us as modern, thinking, yet committed Jews in the 21st century. His readings are insightful, nuanced, and pregnant with thought-provoking insights.”  —Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot, chair, departments of bible and Jewish thought, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School

“Continuing Rabbi Francis Nataf’s analysis of the Bible’s five books, this volume focuses on some of the most perplexing stories in the Book of Numbers. It weaves them into discussions about the individual and the community, religious leadership and its abuse, and about communication and disappointment.” —Jewish Book World

“[I]n the tradition of the Ramban and the Netziv, Rabbi Nataf fuses reverence for our greatest with an awareness of their humanity; moreover, he recognizes that the human element does not compromise the greatness but, rather, ennobles it. . . . The serious and sensitive initiative to cope with the substantive issues as well as with their educational ramifications deserves the respect of a broad range of readers. Rabbi Nataf’s fresh voice is one the Torah world will find well worth reading.”  —Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtentstein, Rosh haYeshiva, Yeshivat Har Etzion

Edition details

• Publisher: Urim Publications
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 9655241548
• ISBN 13: 9789655241549
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 192